


PokeBuddies

by psychoroach



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:48:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23305573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychoroach/pseuds/psychoroach
Summary: Roswell Characters with Pokémon.
Relationships: Maria DeLuca/Max Evans/Liz Ortecho, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes/Kyle Valenti
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	PokeBuddies

**Author's Note:**

> Please read, review, and kudos!

Liz Ortecho groaned to herself as she pulled to the side of the road, glaring at the police car that pulled up behind her. She grabbed her license and registration out, slamming the glove compartment door closed before she rolled down the window. She didn't look up as the cop approached, launching into a tirade instead. "Look I have no idea why you pulled me over. I was doing the speed limit, I was paying attention to all the laws. Is this some kind of race thing? Because let me tell you, jackass, I was born right here in Roswell, and I don't care what that idiot in office thinks, I'm not going to be put behind some wall just because backwards morons like you don't like that I speak another language..."

Liz trailed off when Bulbasaur, who was strapped in beside her, let out a happy little sound and his vine shot out in front of her, causing her to yelp.

"I missed you, too, buddy." A deep, familiar voice said, sounding amused.

Liz's gaze snapped over and she gasped. "Max Evans? Since when are you a cop?"

"You've been gone for ten years." He pointed out, letting Bulbasaur hold onto him. "Also, for the record, your tail light is out."

"Damn it." She cursed, glaring out the back of her car. "That dude told me when I got this rust bucket that it might do that...deberia volver alli y hacer que Ekans lo persiga hasta que muera de un..."

Max cut her off with a laugh. "Hey now, don't be letting Ekans do all your dirty work." He leaned in and looked around the car. "Only got Bulbasaur out right now?"

Liz tried not to let how close he was effect her, even though he smelled unfairly good and she knew insinctively he wore the same cologne he wore in high school. Who does that and can pull it off?

"I wanted to know how he would do in a different environment and was going to let him out when I got to a controlled...uh...you know." She said, waving a hand. "Do you want these?" She held up her license and registration.

"Let's just say I let you off with a warning." He said with a grin that made her want to punch him...or do dirty things with him in the back of his cop car, she couldn't decide. "Get that tail light fixed, though."

"You know of a good place for that?" Liz stopped herself from playing with her hair and mentally chastized herself for flirting.

"Well Michael would be happy to do it for you." Max offered. "Probably...just don't tell him I sent you."

Liz eyed him a little incredulously. "Ok, I'll do that..."

A funny sound came from Max's car through the speaker and he sighed, pulling back. "I should get that. Have a good day...we'll have to catch up if you're going to be in town for a while."

"I...yeah, we'll...sure..." Liz pulled the car out of park and pulled out, barely giving Max time to step back out of the way. She looked over at Bulbasaur who was looking smug beside her. "You always liked him better." She said, unable to be too mad.

\----------

Liz ran a hand over Ekans head as he sat beside her, a little grumpy. He wasn't all that happy with having been in his Pokeball for as long  
as he was and she was trying to make him feel better. "Aww, pobrecito." She laughed fondly. "It's ok, I'll leave you out now. Look, I had dad make you some meatballs."

She reached over and grabbed the plate, overflowing which was hilarious since Ekans was the only meat eater she had Pokemon wise and she knew that he wouldn't be able to eat it all. She just figured it was her dad's way of saying she was 'too skinny' and trying to get her to eat more. She snorted to herself and popped one into her mouth, chewing it up.

"See? Good." She prompted.

Ekans eyed her and she held a meatball out to him. He took it and chewed it up before begging for another.

She laughed and kissed him on the head. "You're so adorable."

\----------

Liz sat at the Wild Pony, sipping a beer as she chatted on and off with Maria while she tended bar. Sandslash sat beside her nibbling on some snacks Liz snuck in in her purse, scaring off any potential idiots that wanted to come up and try to harass her. She felt nostalgic as she sat there, looking around and wondered to herself, not for the first time, why she even left in the first place.

She caught sight of Michael in the back, bent over a pool table...possibly hustling the two idiots playing him. It was amusing. She was brought out of her thoughts by someone coming up behind her, making her groan quietly. "Look, idiot, I've already been harrassed plenty tonight, I just want to..." She trailed off when Sandslash perked up beside her and didn't immediately try to chase the person away. "Crap, it's Max isn't it?"

"You know, if we keep meeting like this, I'm going to start thinking you don't like me." Max smirked at her as she whirled around on the stool she was sitting on.

Liz groaned and put a hand on her face. "I just keep putting my foot in my mouth."

"Hey, that's a part of the reason I like you so much." Max offered.

"Because I keep putting my foot in my mouth?!" She stared at him incredulously.

"No, because you always speak your mind." He said calmly, in a way that had her stomach feeling all funny. "It keeps people on their toes."

"You like to be kept on your toes, Max?" She asked, ignoring inner Liz telling her to stop flirting.

He smiled and leaned his elbows against the bar beside her. "I mean...I don't hate it when it's the right person keeping me on 'em."

"Good to know." She said. "Want to sit?"

"I'd love to." He pulled up Sandslash and put the Pokemon on his lap easily, like it was no big deal as he flagged Maria down and asked for a beer.

\----------

"So what you're telling me, is it's still not done." Liz said, waving her hands in the air as she stared at Michael, who was flopped down in a lawn chair, beer in hand, looking the picture of casualness.

"No, what I'm saying, and have been since you got here, is that I have to wait for parts before I can fix it." He said. "What do you care anyway, it's a rental. Just send it back to the company and let them handle it."

"Because, incase you've not rented a car before, you have to pay for that, too, and they'll charge me quadruple what you will." Liz groaned.

"I could charge you more." Michael said. "I mean, your Pokemon is going to eat at least that much metal if you stay around here much longer."

Liz whipped around, eyes wide, before she heard Michael snickering. "You're such an ass...Lairon feeds on rocks, not that."

"You fell for it." He pointed out. "Look, I'm sorry, truly, genuinely, but I can't help how long it's going to take to get what I need. Roswell is sort of out of the way, and big corporations I choose to use don't always like sending some small town mechanic parts, especially ones like these."

Liz sighed and slumped. "Fine, I...sure. As long as you're doing what you can. It's not like I'm in a hurry to get out of here. I guess I'll see you around then. Hey, do you know if they uber around here?"

"Tell Max I said hi." Michael drawled as Liz walked off, Lairon scampering over toward her.

\----------

Liz had her eyes closed as she sat on the roof of the Crashdown. Leafeon was beside her in a kiddie pool, splashing around and making happy little noises while she took advantage of the rare very sunny day and laid out to get a tan. She was wearing a pair of high waisted shorts and a bikini top, but she didn't feel exposed, since she knew her dad couldn't get up to where she was, and she didn't expect anyone else to come up there.

"You know, I feel like I put myself into these situations." A voice said and Liz wasn't even shocked by it at that point. She smirked and lowered her sunglasses, looking over at Max who was standing there awkwardly.

"What can I do for you, officer?" She asked.

He muttered something she couldn't quite hear under his breath before speaking louder. "I thought I'd come and see if you wanted lunch, but I see you have other plans."

"Nothing important." She laughed. "Pull up a seat, we can eat up here if you don't mind."

"Sure, yeah." Max dragged another chair over. "Your dad sent me with...a lot of food. I don't know if he thinks I can eat a lot..."

Liz rolled her eyes as she started taking things from the overflowing bag, putting it between them, not really paying attention to him. "No, he thinks I've gotten too skinny since I've been away from home and he's determined to make my dress size go up a few numbers."

"I don't think that'd be a bad thing, I think you'd still look good." He offered.

"Thank you, but if you start teaming up with my dad..." She looked over at him and the words died in her throat. Max had apparently decided he needed a little sun himself and had stripped out of his uniform shirt, leaving him barechested. His gun belt rested beside him and he gave her a quizzical look when she didn't finish her sentence. "If you start teaming up with my dad, I'm going to have to fight fire with fire." She finished lamely.

Max grinned at her like he knew what he was doing. "Bring it, Ortecho."

"It's already been b..." She shrieked when Leafeon tackled her practically and stuck his head in the bag. "Ok, ok! Here..." She took out the box she knew her dad packed for the Pokemon and opened it. "Gah, you're such a brat."

Max laughed heartily at her, one hand on his stomach. "You know you should really get your Pokemon under control." He teased.

"Cierra tu cara grande e injustamente hermosa." Liz threw a tater tot at him, which just made him laugh more.

\----------

"You know, this almost feels like 10th grade biology." Kyle said as he and Liz puttered around the lab she'd procured at the hospital. 

She looked over when Chansey handed her another vial to test and she smiled softly at the Pokemon before addressing Kyle's words. "Yeah, except less you cheating off of me."

Kyle put a hand to his chest and Liz instinctively rolled her eyes. "I'm wounded. Really. Who here got into medical school?"

"Newsflash, both of us, dumbass." Liz snorted. "Just because you're a flashy doctor and I'm a lowly researcher..."

"You aren't a lowly anything." Kyle said, rolling his eyes back at her. "You know that. If anything, you probably are a good part of the reason I got into medical school in the first place. That and the bum knee I got in senior year that made me have to do a 180 when I saw my athletic scholarship go up in smoke...but hey, I had to put in the work when I got there. Do you know how hard that was?"

"Not a clue." Liz drawled.

"What I'm saying is...in a very bad way...is that you worked your ass off as well, I know how hard going into the medical field is." Kyle said. "So I don't think you should call yourself a lowly anything."

"Thanks, Kyle." Liz said, flashing him a smile.

"You're welcome, Lizzy." Kyle smiled back at her.

"Ugh, don't call me that." She groaned, laughing. "Why do I have Chansey out right now? I need one of my Pokemon that'll kick your ass."

"Your Pokemon love me, they would never." He scoffed.

Liz raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to bet on that?"

"We need to get back to work." Kyle turned his back to her, causing Liz to laugh and take the next vial Chansey brought over to her.

\----------

Max paused in his workout to grab his water bottle. He took a long drink from it and squirted a bit on his face, putting it back down to grab his towel, wiping his face and bare chest off. He looked at Machamp who looked back at him, a little perturbed at the workout pausing. Max laughed and patted the Pokemon on one of his hulking arms. "This is why we do this." He said. "You need to take a lesson in patience."

Machamp stared at him some more and folded all four arms over his chest, waiting while Max checked the time and took another few gulps of water before he turned back to the Pokemon.

"Ok, ready to kick my ass some more? We have about a half hour before I need to start getting ready for work." He grinned, slipping his mouthguard back in.

Machamp grinned back at him and Max only had a chance to put his gloved hand up before Machamp was swinging at him.

\----------

Max smiled, settling down in a chair out back of his home, watching Charmander light a fire in the stone firepit that was out there. "You're a good Pokemon, Charm." He drawled, letting Charmander crawl up in his lap. It was getting dark outside, and New Mexico was very hot during the day, but got cold very quickly once the sun went down. He hugged the Pokemon to him and stared out in the distance as the stars slowly started popping out in the sky. 

"Char..." The Pokemon said quietly, and Max rubbed her back gently. 

"Yeah I know, it's really nice out tonight, huh?" Max murmured. "That's why I've always stuck around here, I don't think there's anything like it. Even with all the alien stuff going on. You still love me, even though I'm an alien, right?" 

Charmander wiggled around and wrapped her tiny little arms around him as best as she could. "Char!" 

Max smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I love you, too." 

\----------

Max stood outside the building he'd been at the last twenty minutes, close to the doorway. "If you don't say something now, I'm sending in my Growlithe." He called, holding a hand on his gun at his side. He waited for a few seconds, and when there was no response, he looked down at Growlithe, who was tense and ready to spring at his side. "Go." 

Growlithe let out a loud bark and darted into the building. There was a quick shuffle sound before a shout was heard. Max walked in, grinning to himself and holstering his gun again.

"Ok, ok, you've had your fun." Michael said from the floor. "Now get her off me before she tears a hole in my pants." 

Max smirked and patted his thigh. "Good girl." He murmured when Growlithe trotted over to him. "You got the perp, yes, good Pokemon." 

"Ugh why did I agree to do this again?" Michael asked, sitting up and pulling his knees close to his chest. He inspected his jeans and made a face when he saw that they were torn. 

"Because I didn't ask you to run through the desert this time." Max pointed out.

"Oh yeah." Michael ran a hand through his hair. "Still not very fun for me. Don't you have some idiot rookie at the sheriff's station that'll put on one of those foam outfits and let Growlithe chase them down?"

"Not since she burned through the last one and the guy was in the hospital for weeks with third degree burns." Max said, helping Michael up. "Had to have skin grafts and everything." 

"That sounds promising, makes me want to do more of these little exercises." He snarked. 

Max laughed. "Come on, to pay you back, I'll pay for our lunch."

"Crashdown?" Michael asked knowingly. 

"I like their milkshakes." Max rubbed the back of his neck. 

"That's not the only thing you like." Michael laughed, dodging to the side when Max halfheartedly swatted at him. 

\----------

Max paced outside in his yard, heedless of the storm that raged around him. Manectric stood nearby, watching with dark eyes while she urged the storm to get stronger and stronger. He was vaguely aware of the power in his home shutting off behind him, but he couldn't care. All he could think about was Liz, Rosa, and everything that happened. If she kept looking into her sister's death, she'd figure out what happened and it would only be a matter of time before she hated him. 

Manectric let out a loud howl at the same time that Max screamed into the storm. He was soaking wet, but didn't feel it, too consumed in his pain and all the emotions swirling inside of him. He watched emotionlessly as the lights of the city slowly flickered off and with every light going out, he felt a sick sense of satisfaction. He knew it was wrong, but with his world burning, he wanted everyone else to burn with him.

Manectric howled again and the storm raged on. 

\----------

After Max helped Michael and Isobel take care of the car that held Rosa's body, he walked off by himself, his thoughts a swirl of emotions. He didn't know how things had gotten as far as they did, and he didn't know why Isobel did what she did, but he was entangled in it now, and all he could think of, out of everything, was that Liz would hate him. She would hate him if she knew what he did, and he couldn't bring himself to blame her for it. He hated himself. 

He startled a bit when a car came out of nowhere and headed straight for him. Max put his arm up, bracing for the impact when he was suddenly whisked out of the way, landing on the side of the road with a thump, a grunt leaving his lips. He picked his head up and watched as the car sped off in the distance, not even caring that they'd almost hit someone. 

As he was looking around, Max saw a set of purple eyes staring at him and he lurched backwards, scrambling to get away from whatever it was. He watched, wide eyed, as an Espeon wandered out from some bushes and stared at him calmly, tail swishing. 

"Did...did you...were you the one that moved me out of the way?" Max asked shakily.

Espeon just stared back at him, but somehow Max felt like she was agreeing with him and he smiled a little bit.

"Well, thanks, I appreciate that." He said, pushing himself up. He turned and started back home and after a few feet he looked behind him and saw Espeon loping along with him. He laughed quietly and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Are you sure you want to get tangled up with someone like me?" Espeon stared at him some more and Max shook his head. "Well let's hope you don't regret it." 

\----------

Max tore around his house as fast as he could, letting out a loud growling noise. "Snubbull, get back here!" He called out. He was dressed in nothing but a pair of swimming trunks, and he was breathing heavily from running around the last who knows how long as he chased his Pokemon around. He jumped over his firepit and huffed as Snubbull ducked around one of his deck chairs more lithely than anyone would expect from a Pokemon her size. 

He managed to corner her between his house and body and they stared each other down. 

"I know you don't like it, but you need a bath. It's been more than a month and you, my little stubborn lady, stink." 

"SNUBBULL!" She exclaimed back at him, somehow managing to sound sassy. 

"No I'm not being mean." Max said, rolling his eyes. "It's a fact of life, if you don't bathe, YOU STINK. Evryone does! And you NEED. A. BATH. Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard..." He trailed off as Snubbull took a running leap and as she was going over his shoulder he made to grab her. She was too quick, though and she managed to run as he was turning around. He leapt toward her and let out a series of curses as he chased her again. He managed to chase her back around to where he had a kiddie pool set up filled with water and he tackled Snubbull just as they got to it, the water splashing around them. 

"SNUBBULL!" She let out, sounding indignant as Max held tight to her. 

"You are getting clean, you brat!" He said, grabbing the Pokemon shampoo bottle and a cloth, pouring a generous amount out on her, scrubbing her. "See? This isn't so bad..." 

Snubbull glared at him and Max just knew there would be hell to pay in retaliation. But for now, he'd won the battle. 

\----------

Michael Guerin walked into his trailer after Liz left, glad to be rid of her. He liked her well enough, and he knew she made Max happy, but she kept harping about her rental and it was getting tiring to deal with. Throwing his cowboy hat over on the couch, he walked into the kitchen, feeling like he needed something to snack on before he gave any thought to what he was going to do for dinner...or just grab a beer. He heard a rustling noise and saw a bag of potato chips on his counter moving around, like there was something inside of it. He walked over cautiously and peeked inside, rolling his eyes as he saw his Morpeko, fully in her hangry mood, her black and purple body scarfing down chips as fast as she could. She turned her red eyes to him and let out a little growl that would've been intimidating if she was any bigger. 

"Whatever, let me know when you're not grumpy anymore." Michael left her alone and went and grabbed a beer. He looked around his meager refrigerator and made a face. All he had there was mayonnaise, a mostly eaten jar of pickles, and a block of cheese that he couldn't remember if the mold was supposed to be on it or not, but to be safer than sorry, he grabbed it out and tossed it in the trash anyway. 

Sitting down with his beer, he thought about either asking if Alex wanted to go out to eat somewhere, or seeing if Kyle would cook dinner for him. Of course, his best bet was probably Alex, since he didn't remember Kyle's schedule right then and he knew the doctor got pissy when Michael called him up sometimes and hinted that he wanted to be fed, even if he offered sex as a payment. 

He looked down when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and saw Morpeko there, back in her usual brown, cream and black form, her eyes their normal black color, cheeks a rosy pink. She looked up at him as she was trying to climb up on the couch and let out little grunting noises, as if trying to prove that she was going through a lot of effort to climb up beside him.

Rolling his eyes, Michael grabbed her by the scruff and plucked her down on his thigh. "That's what you get for gorging yourself on cheddar and sour cream chips." He pointed out, unable to help the grin that came to his face as she leaned against his stomach. "I'm still hungry, though, so what do we do about that?" 

Morpeko let out a happy chirp and looked over to the blanket that Michael and Alex used to wrap up sometimes outside. 

"Alex it is, I'll get him to see if Kyle wants to come, too." Michael said, putting a hand on the tiny Pokemon so he could shift and take his phone out.

\----------

Michael sat outside by the fire, stewing as he stared into it. He had his coat pulled close around him and kicked at a clump of dirt, which sailed into the fire and caused embers to dust up a little bit, which only served as a back drop to his sour mood. He looked over at Impidimp who was playing with some bit of something he'd found in the scraps, staring at Michael. 

"I bet you love this don't you." He said quietly, not looking away from the Pokemon. "Oh your human is in a fucking awful mood and you're just feeding on it, loving it. Hoping I spiral even more. Shithead. I'm going to be fine soon, right after I punch Kyle in his stupid face probably, and then you can be the one grumpy and moody." 

Impidimp let out a quiet little sound and started almost dancing around Michael's chair.

He ignored the Pokemon and stared up at the stars. "Fucking Kyle. Fucking last minute emergency cases. Fuck him, I don't care about Valentine's day, but how dare he ruin it for Alex. He was looking forward to this for weeks. Asshole. Always thinking about others." 

"You know, most people wouldn't consider that a bad thing." A voice said from behind him. 

Michael turned and saw Alex there, smiling softly at him. "What are you doing here?" 

"Well, I figured even though our third is off being doctor, that doesn't mean we can't do something." Alex said.

"It's 10:30 at night." Michael pointed out, just because he was still feeling surly.

"Yeah, well I'm easy to please." Alex walked over and put his hands on Michael's shoulder. Michael could feel him leaning into him a little bit so Alex's prosthetic didn't make him tip over. "To be honest, I don't want to go out to one of those hokey restaurants with their God awful Valentine's day decorations. Red and pink make me sick." 

"You were looking forward to this." Michael accused, looking back at the fire. 

"You idiot." Alex said, somehow managing to make it sound fond more than anything. "I was looking forward to spending time with you and Kyle, I didn't care what we were doing. Kyle's the one that wanted to take us out to a fancy dinner." 

"All I have is a couple cans of ravioli." Michael looked back up at him again.

"That's perfect." Alex said, moving away from him and heading toward the trailer. "I love your Pokemon, but put Impidimp back in his Pokeball, I don't need him fucking up the rest of my night."

Michael grinned slightly and recalled the Pokemon, who made a halfhearted protest before he disappeared in the Pokeball and he got up to follow Alex, feeling his mood shift back to happy.

\----------

Michael laid in bed, feeling lazy even though it was nearing 10 AM, listening to the goings on around him. He heard something puttering around outside, and a few noises of interest, chuckling when he realized Meowth had gone out to look for something shiny to hoard. The Pokemon had a stash Michael had to raid every few weeks, to make sure she hadn't put away anything he'd need at some point. 

Getting up, Michael threw on a pair of jeans over his naked body, not bothering to do them up just yet, making his way outside. He whistled and got Meowth's attention, sitting down as the Pokemon wandered over to him. "Well what'd you find today?" He asked, squinting as he got used to the bright sun that was out. 

Meowth held her paws out and Michael looked through her stash. She'd managed to find a few coins, bottle caps and a shiny little stone of some sort. He fingered through it a little bit, showing some interest, and then patted her on the head. 

"Well looks like you've been productive." He smiled at her. "Enough work for now, though, we've not had breakfast. Let's go in and eat, and then we'll come back out and you can search around some more while I finally finish Liz's rental. She's resorted to insulting me in two languages now so I gotta finish so the rental company stops harrassing her, I guess." He got up and let Meowth inside the trailer, before he wandered around the other side. He relieved himself and went in, washing his hands before rummaging around. Kyle had stocked his shelves, claiming it as a self-defense strategy so he didn't go hungry when he was over, so Michael dug out some eggs and pancake mix and started making food for he and his little brood. 

\----------

Kyle grunted as he looked over across from where he and Michael were curled up on the couch. Both of them were shirtless since it was too fucking hot outside, and Kyle was in the bottom part of his scrubs since he'd come there straight from his shift. He sighed and put his head back down on Michael's chest, trying to relax and enjoy Michael drawing little designs with his fingers on his lower back. 

"Your Pokemon is staring at me again." He mumbled.

Michael chuckled, looking over Kyle's head at where Sableye was in fact watching them quietly, her blue gem eyes sparkling in the sun that was coming through the window. 

"She wants to play with your stethoscope." He explained. "Be glad Meowth is outside, she would've grabbed it already." 

Kyle rolled his eyes lightly. "Have at it, Sab, but I need it back sometime before my next shift." 

Sableye let out a happy noise and grabbed the stethoscope, wandering off with it. How Michael got ahold of Pokemon that liked to hoard shiny things, he wasn't sure. He was just glad, though, that they didn't have expensive tastes and could be amused with a stethoscope. 

"I'll wrestle it from her before you go back." Michael promised. He leaned forward and kissed Kyle's shoulder. "When is that again?" He asked, trying to be casual about it.

"Not for a fucking glorious week." Kyle grunted. "I pulled a double shift and then I took half a shift for someone whose mother is in hospice, so I've done my good deeds. I am all yours and Alex's until then and I don't plan on doing anything heroic." 

"So we aren't having sex at any point?" Michael smirked.

Kyle snickered into his neck, flushing. "I didn't say that now."

"Good, I'd hate to have to toss you out on your ass." Michael joked.

"You like my ass." Kyle said smugly.

"Sure do." Michael agreed, sneaking his hands down the back of Kyle's scrubs to prove it.

\----------

When Jesse Manes came back into town, Michael had enough. The man had no leverage over them, yet he loved trying to make Alex's life a living hell. It wasn't good enough that he'd shattered Michael's hand and left him permanently scarred. It wasn't enough that he'd told Michael's foster family about him being 'a fucking queer abomination'. No, Jesse Manes was bound and determined to get revenge on both he and Alex because of whatever slight he felt they'd dealt him and Michael wasn't about to let him get away with it, so as he stood by and listened to Jesse spout vile things at Alex, who was doing a piss poor job of pretending he wasn't affected, Michael finally snapped.

He took out a Pokeball and tossed it up in the air a few times. "I'm going to give you one chance to turn around and walk away and never bother us again, and then I'm going for blood." He said quietly, in a dangerous tone. His amber colored eyes flashed dangerously to show he meant business.

Jesse laughed loudly, the Braviary on his shoulder letting out a shrill call with him. "You think I'm scared of you, you alien fag?" 

"That's it, I warned you." Michael growled. "Weavile!" He let the Pokemon out, and she stood there just looking for a fight. "Make sure that fucker over there leaves our town." He said simply and he smirked when Braviary darted from Jesse's shoulder at Weavile and she simply dodged it and took a swipe at the Pokemon. They started fighting with each other, and Weavile chased after Jesse, who cursed loudly and threatened to shoot her as he ran. Michael wasn't worried, though, he knew Weavile was too fast for the old man to be able to get near. He would just be lucky if Braviary came out of it ok. 

Alex looked over at him once Jesse had ran off. "You didn't have to do that." He said, although he didn't seem all that upset about it.

Michael shrugged. "Yeah, well, I forgot to get you a birthday present." He offered.

Alex laughed loudly. "Michael, my birthday isn't for another five months." 

Michael frowned. "I thought your birthday was March 16th."

"Kyle's is March 11th." Alex offered.

"Son of a bitch." Michael groaned. "Can I use your Amazon account?" 

"What do I get out of it?" Alex asked, folding his arms over his chest.

Michael smirked at him.

\----------

Michael grunted as he felt the bed spread being tugged at. He was in bed with Kyle on one side, Alex on the other, all three of them gloriously naked and sated and he'd be damned if he was going to move out of anything but necessity right then. He needed a few more hours of rest before he would be able to move anyway, although the why was completely worth it. 

"What?" He looked over Kyle's back to see Nickit sitting there looking up at him. The Pokemon looked at the door and then back at Michael a few times and Michael ran a hand over his face. "I need to teach you how to use the toilet just like everybody else. Fuck it, just go in the bathroom, I'll clean it up later." Nickit let out an indignant sound, but wandered off anyway.

"You know, if I didn't know what we just did, and why you're so reluctant to get up, I'd be indignant on her behalf." Alex mumbled, not opening his eyes.

Michael draped over his back, feeling Kyle turn over and spoon behind him. "Whatever, but you know and you aren't. Besides, I'll just make Kyle clean it up anyway, he's used to putting his hands in gross..." He yelped when he felt a hard slap on his bare ass. "Dude, don't! That fucking hurts, man!" He reached back to rub at his sore ass cheek. 

Kyle piped up, a definite smirk in his tone. "Well don't volunteer me to clean up your Pokemon's shit. I got enough of doing grunt work when I was working on my residency." 

"I'm just saying, you probably don't even react to stuff like that anymore, what's the big..." Michael yelped again when Kyle spanked him yet again. "I'm warning you, dude, I'll sneak Morpeko in your apartment when she's on a hunger rampage..." 

"You're all talk, maybe we didn't exhaust you enough." Kyle said. 

"Actually, I think you should be the one to take it up the ass next." Alex piped up, running his fingers through Michael's curls to appease him. 

"What? Why?" Kyle asked, although he didn't sound as upset as he was trying to.

Michael smirked and kissed the back of Alex's neck. "To send you back to work tomorrow with a bang." 

Alex snickered into the pillow. "That was terrible." 

"Yeah, but you love it." Michael pointed out, rolling over quickly and palming Kyle's ass. 

\----------

Alex sighed quietly as he sat in his physical therapy appointment, taking a break from doing his workouts. He knew it was a necessary evil, but that didn't mean he had to like it. It was hard, he was sore, and it wouldn't be giving him his leg back anytime soon. He put up with it though, even though he had visions of taking his cane and bashing his overly perky PT over the head with it. It wasn't that he was a terrible PT, he was actually really nice. But when you go around acting like Richard Simmons' cherubic looking offspring, it tended to get to those who weren't quite as...perky. 

Alex took a long sip from his water bottle and smiled when Boltund wandered over to him and laid across his thigh. Alex buried his fingers in Boltund's fur and put his water bottle down beside him again. "Just a a little while longer, 'Tund." He said quietly. "Then we can go home, take a shower and plot Jerace's demise." He grinned when Boltund let out a happy bark and he patted her gently. "Go on and curl up again, we'll see if Michael will come get us." 

Boltund took off and Alex hid a smirk when she scared Jerace by running past him really quick. He took out his phone and texted Michael. 'Come pick me up from PT? Save a life, get lunch out of it.'

'Whose life am I saving?' Michael asked.

'My PT.' Alex said. 'I'm plotting his murder.'

'If he's dead by the time I get there, I'll help you hide the body.' Michael promised. 

Alex smirked to himself and put his phone away as Jerace came over to him and asked if he was 'ready to give 110% for the last little bit of the super fun time they were having' and Alex smiled serenely at him and went back to doing his exercises, all the while thinking about all the creative ways to commit a murder and wondering if Max would help him cover it up.

\----------

Alex laughed quietly as Galvantula made another pass around his hands. He was sitting in the Crashdown waiting on Kyle to get there so they could have lunch in between Kyle's shifts and he'd quickly gotten bored. He'd taken Galvantula out and they were currently doing some form of cat's cradle thing, and Alex's hands were covered with Galvantula's silk. Neither one of them were particularly caring about it, though, and Alex moved his thumb as Galvantula moved a strand of silk around it. "I can't understand what you're doing, but I'm glad we're entertained." He teased.

Galvantula paused in her spinning and looked up at him. She stared at him for several seconds, before going back to what she was doing.

Alex clued in somehow and he chuckled. "That's the point, huh? Just to entertain ourselves. I get it." 

Galvatula let out an agreeing sound and Alex leaned back in the booth he was sitting in and zoned out as he watched Galvantula contentedly.

\----------

Alex walked outside his place and sighed as he looked at his generator, which wasn't kicking on even though it should've been. The power had been out for about an hour and Alex was boiling during the summer storm that was going on. He bundled more into his parka and took a Pokeball out of his pocket. He clicked the button on the front and let Vikavolt out. The Pokemon sped around a little bit in excitement, and then hovered in front of Alex, probably wondering what was going on.

"You see this?" Alex gestured to the generator. "I need you to give it a good jolt for me." 

Vikavolt buzzed and Alex stepped back several feet. He'd been jolted by one of his Pokemon before and wasn't looking to repeat that experience if he could help it.

Vikavolt let out a big charge to the generator and Alex cheered in his head when he saw the lights come on. "Fantastic, ok, come on, I'll feed you some nice sap as a reward." Alex calmly moved his head as Vikavolt sped past him and wandered over along behind the Pokemon back toward the front door.

\----------

"Why do some of your and Michael's Pokemon hate me?" Kyle groused as he sat on Alex's couch. Dedenne and Togedemaru were currently bouncing around, playing some sort of tag game, not paying Kyle any mind as they darted around and on his body. Alex looked over from where he was heating them up some food and smiled to himself as he watched their antics.

"They don't hate you." He said. "If they hated you, Vikavolt would've electrocuted you by now." 

Kyle eyed him warily. "Excuse me?" 

"It probably won't happen." Kyle said offhandedly. "Girls, do you want some food, too?" 

Dedenne and Togedemaru stopped what they were doing at the mention of food and both scampered over to Alex, ignoring all the obstacles they had to climb over, and they each perched on a shoulder. 

"Sure they're good for you." Kyle laughed.

Alex turned his back and smirked. "They love Michael, he lets them ride around in his coat pockets."

\----------

Alex laid his head back against the back of his chair as he sat in the bunker going over more of the information he'd been looking over the last few days, needing to take a minute to rest his eyes. He saw little spots dancing around and could hear Kyle in his head lecturing him about eye strain and blah blah blah. 

"Well, I see your little bodyguard alien asshole isn't here." A voice said from behind him. 

Alex whirled around and locked eyes with his father, glaring at him. "What are you doing here?" 

"I will not let this stand, Alex." He said. "What you're doing is wrong. These abominations..."

Alex rubbed at his temples and let out a loud sigh. "Toxel, take the trash out." 

The little purple Pokemon came out from where she'd been napping under the desk and growled. When Jesse's Braviary swarmed at her she jumped up and latched on to the bird Pokemon. Braviary screamed in pain, but couldn't shake Toxel off until she leapt off of him. Braviary retreated out of the bunker and Toxel bit at Jesse's heels as he ran after the Pokemon, cursing and raising hell as he went.

"Your Pokemon's a bitch, dad!" Alex yelled after him. When Toxel came back, a piece of Jesse's pants in her jaws, Alex laughed and picked her up. "Give me that, silly butt." He murmured fondly, taking the fabric out of her mouth and throwing it away. "Good girl, my little protector." He kissed her forehead lightly. "You deserve a good dinner tonight...both of us do, I think." 

Toxel let out a trilling noise and pawed at him. 

"Yeah, I know, I'll invite Michael and Kyle, too." Alex promised, cuddling her to him. He took out his phone, resting his cheek against Toxel's head as he texted them.

'Interested in a good dinner tonight?' He asked.

'Only if I'm not cooking it.' Michael joked. 

'Absolutely, I'm absolutely starving.' Kyle sent a second later.

'My place, I'll be home in 30.' Alex replied, standing up. "Come on, babygirl. Let's go home." 

\----------

Maria stood outside leading her yoga class, moving in between all of the bodies there. Not only was Isobel there, but Max had been dragged with Liz. He looked a little uncomfortable, especially since some of the older women there were openly ogling him, but it just amused Liz and she and Maria shared a wink with each other. She gently put her hand on Max's back, between his shoulder blades and pushed in, adjusting his posture. He went along easily and let her, and she felt some of his muscles loosen. 

She walked away and nudged her Galarian Ponyta and gestured to Max. He let out a low sound and wandered over, settling down by Max as Maria led them to the cool down portion of things, watching as Max smiled and put a hand on Ponyta's back, centering himself. Maria nodded to herself and focused on the others, making sure they were ok. She got a funny feeling from Isobel still, but knew that confronting her about it probably wouldn't go so well. Even with Max being back, the other woman was on edge and as Michael had put it the other day 'really bitchy', not that Maria would ever say it that way, but...

She ended the session and talked to a few of the people that came, thanking them and asking how they were feeling, making sure everyone had a nice session that day. She went to say something to Isobel, but the woman breezed by her, twisting a towel in her hands. Maria frowned, but before she could wonder too much about it, Max and Liz came over to her.

"Hey." Liz nudged her lightly.

"Hey." Maria said quietly.

"Don't worry about her." Max said. "She's...I think she's still upset over the whole Noah thing, and still sort of, you know, about me..." 

"Yeah she'll be ok. We're here for her, she knows that." Liz agreed. 

"I know, I just can't help but think something's a little up with her." Maria admitted, playing with the necklace around her neck. 

"Hey." Liz put a hand on her arm. "You have a few hours until you need to open, do you want to come back to Max's with us? Get some lunch..." She trailed off and Maria turned toward her, sensing something interesting coming from her aura.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah, we'd really like if you did." Max said honestly.

Maria eyed him as well and slowly nodded, a smile coming to her face. She pushed a piece of hair behind her ear in a slightly nervous gesture. "Yeah, I'd like that. I'll meet you there? I have to put the mats away. Gives you time to shower and change and all." 

"What are you saying, Maria?" Liz asked playfully. "Come on, give me a hug!" 

Maria laughed and dodged away from her. "Not until you shower, Ortecho! You stink!" 

"Hurtful!" Liz laughed, walking off with Max. 

\----------

Maria looked over to her Wynaut, giving him a slight look. "I spent an hour chopping up all those pineapples and limes, don't you dare eat them all. I know I mostly just hand out beer all night, but it'd be my luck you'd eat all my fruit and I'd get in a bridesmaid's party or something and they'd all want margaritas and pina coladas and I'd be stuck with no garnishes." She couldn't be too mad at the little blue Pokemon, though, he was just too cute. 

"Wynaut!" He blurted out innocently, even with a lime sticking out of his mouth.

She shook her head. "If you're good I'll take you to Max's tomorrow and you can play with Snubbull and con Max out of ice cream." She wasn't sure what it was she, Liz and Max were starting, but it was casual, it was easy, and so far she had to admit she was enjoying herself. 

"Are you already planning my off day out for me?" Max asked as he settled into a seat at the bar.

Maria turned to look at him and she smiled. "Are you saying you mind?" 

"No, not at all." Max said easily. "Liz is coming over, too. She's letting the newbie take one of her shifts." 

"The high schooler that dumped chili all over Kyle because she was distracted by his supposed hotness?" Maria snorted.

"One in the same." Max smirked. "Liz swears up and down that the girl is a lot better and hasn't dumped anything on anybody since." 

"Means Kyle hasn't been in." Maria muttered.

"Yeah he's been working extra shifts." Max offered.

"Sounds about right." Maria laughed. "Poor girl. I'd be just as entranced if I wasn't used to the smile and the dimples." 

"What about my smile and dimples?" Max leaned on his elbows.

Maria raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't have dimples." 

"I have dimples." Max insisted.

Maria snorted. "I'm looking at your face, I don't see any dimples." 

"I didn't say that's where they were." Max pointed out cheekily.

Maria threw a hand towel at him. "Get out of here and stop distracting me!" She said playfully. 

Max grinned widely. "I'll see you tomorrow?" 

"Probably." Maria agreed. She looked over and groaned when she saw a group of women coming in the bar. "Wynaut you better have left me some pineapples!" 

"Wynaut!" He exclaimed. 

\----------

Maria looked over at Gothitelle as she came into the living room where Maria was doing a load of laundry. It had backed up to a worrying degree and she'd finally gathered up the nerve to start tackling it (mostly since she was down to clothes that wouldn't be appropriate to wear to work, and wearing something only mostly decent at home). "Hey, girlie. What's up?" 

Gothitelle looked up at her with a calm look before Maria was assaulted with visions, causing her to drop the pair of pants she'd been holding. She saw Isobel in some sort of white room, the vision was hazy around the edges. She was in a gown of some sort, and looked to be in pain, screaming loudly, sweat pouring off of her.

Maria got ripped out of the vision and she gasped loudly, putting a hand to her chest, her breath ragged. She noticed that someone was knocking loudly on the door and she darted over to open it, flashing a shaky smile at Liz when she saw her standing there. "Hey, girl."

"Hey, what's up? Are you ok?" Liz asked.

"Oh...yeah, I'm great, I'm cool." Maria said, deciding to not tell her about the vision, since she couldn't make heads or tails of it yet. "Come on in, what's up?" 

"Well I know you were catching up on chores today and I thought I'd help you out." Liz walked into the house and they walked to the living room where Gothitelle was sitting on the couch, innocent as could be.

"Hey, Gothi, what's shaking?" Liz smiled as she went to sit by the tiny Pokemon, who laved up the attention. Maria shook her head and went back to folding her clothes, Liz helping somewhat, distracting more than anything, not that Maria figured it'd be any different. 

\----------

Max ran his fingers over Maria's bare arm as they laid in bed together. Maria was laying on her side facing away from him, his arm under her as he laid on his back. She almost couldn't believe where they had ended up, but she didn't feel bad about it. It had been coming for weeks now, and Liz had even texted her earlier to say she needed to 'ride Max like a show pony soon'. It...didn't exactly happen like that, but it had happened. 

"What are you thinking?" Max's voice broke through the quiet. 

"Just about...what we just did." Maria admitted, laughing softly. "What about you?" 

"That's definitely up there, but I'm also thinking about how hungry I am, too." Max said.

Maria turned over and swatted at him, causing him to laugh and dodge a bit. 

"What? I didn't ask you to get up and fix me food." He pointed out.

"Good, I'm too lazy." Maria smirked.

"How about I get up and fix us some sandwiches?" Max suggested.

"Perfect." Maria rolled over into the warm spot he left behind and watched as he padded, naked, out of the room. 

"'Ria." He called a few minutes later. "Can you come here?" 

Maria groaned quietly and got up. She slipped on the shirt he'd left behind and walked to the kitchen where she saw Max standing in front of the refrigerator. She laughed when she saw Meowstic sitting in front of it, staring up at him.

"Meows, do you want something to eat, too? Well you gotta move. Max'll make you a sandwich, too." Maria scooped him up and put him on a stool at the island in the room.

"That Pokemon freaks me out, I have to say." Max said, rooting around her fridge.

"Oh he's not any trouble." Maria smiled. "You're just a big ol' wimp." 

"Watch it now, I'm making you food." Max said.

"You'll still make me food." Maria said playfully. 

\----------

Maria looked up with a sigh as she heard a commotion start up near the back of the Wild Pony. It was shocking, but Michael Guerin wasn't a part of it. Since he'd started whatever it was he had with Alex and Kyle, he'd been pretty good about not getting into drunken brawls. But just because one drunken brawler had been out of her hair lately didn't mean the others were, too. 

"Hey!" She barked, putting as much authority as she could in her voice. "Don't make me kick your asses out of here!" 

One of the men snarled her way. "You and what army, bitch? You may think you run this place, but as far as I'm concerned, you're just a bar wench." 

Maria raised an eyebrow and looked down at Hattrem, who was sitting between spare bottles under the bar. "Get 'em, Hatts." 

Hattrem let out a quiet growl and hopped down, slipping over to where the brawl was escalating without anyone noticing. He jumped up and swung at one guy, hitting one with her apendages before whirling around on the other. None of the guys had their Pokemon out then so it was fairly easy for Hattrem to get rid of the men and soon enough he had them crashing through the front door. 

"And don't come back!" She yelled after them. "Alright, last call!" She yelled and then over the groaning. "Yeah well blame the three stooges for that, I now have to get my bar back into rights. Go drink at home!" She made sure everyone trudged out and then walked over to assess the damage left behind. She saw that a stool was bent and a pool cue had been snapped, but other than that, besides some pool balls rolling around, everything seemed to be ok thankfully.

Deciding to deal with it later, Maria gathered Hattrem and made her way to Max's place, knowing Liz would be there. She smiled when Liz answered the door dressed in one of Max's shirts. 

"What are you doing here?" Liz asked, letting her in.

"Decided to close up early." Maria said, looking over at Max who was lounging in a pair of pajama pants, Netflix pulled up on the tv he was facing. "You got one of those for me?" She gestured to the shirt Liz was wearing. 

"Of course." Max got up and came back with a button up. She placed Hattrem in his hand and she went and changed, coming back out a few minutes later, smiling when she saw Snubbull asleep in a bed and Leafeon sitting in a windowsill, staring outside. 

"What are we watching?" She asked, curling up on Max's other side.

"I was trying to convince him to watch Great British Bake Off reruns." Liz said. "He wants to watch the Aaron Hernandez documentary." 

"I hate to say it, Liz, you're my homegirl, but I'm with Max on this one." Maria said with a grin.

"Yesss!" Max grinned widely, leaning over to kiss Maria, who only laughed.

Liz mock groaned and plucked Hattrem out of Max's arm. "Come on, Hattrem, let's go make some popcorn. I can't with these people." 

Hattrem chirped happily as Liz carried him off toward the kitchen.

\----------

Maria danced around her kitchen while she was cooking and listening to Shakira. She took out a few ingredients she needed to make her abuela's caldillo recipe, knowing she had everything she needed to make it. "Oh, baby, when you talk like that you make a woman go mad. So be wise and keep on reading the signs of my body. I'm on tonight, you know my hips don't lie and I'm starting to feel it's right. All the attraction, the tension. Don't you see, baby, this is perfection?" 

Hearing a rhythmic tapping behind her, she turned around and laughed. Mr. Rime was on the counter, tapping to his little heart's content, swinging his cane around. She watched for a few seconds and nodded along.

"Yeah that's it, get it, Rimey." She said, tapping her fingernails along with him, more than to the actual song. She smiled widely as he tapped in rhythm to her and the song was forgotten as it switched over to whatever was next on her iPod. 

\----------

Kyle stormed into his dorm room at New Mexico State University Alamogordo, barely giving time for Mega Audino to scurry in behind him as he closed the door behind him. He flopped down on his bed and put his face in his hands, groaning loudly. "Whatever made me think I could do this?" He muttered to himself. "I mean if it wasn't for Liz...I didn't cheat off her that much, though...I never knew medical college was going to be this hard. I mean, I feel like those weird outcasts back in high school. Oh God I'm fuckin' Manes..." The thought made him scrunch up his face and he sighed and flopped onto his back. 

Audino climbed up onto the bed beside him and patted Kyle's arm lightly. She made a few cooing noises and the noises soothed Kyle just like they always had. 

He turned toward her and flashed a soft smile. "I don't know if I'm cut out for this, Audi." He admitted. 

Audino climbed back off the bed and walked over to where Kyle had a pile of stuff on the desk he had in the room and she grabbed something, coming back over and climbing back onto the bed. 

Kyle took the book and saw that it was his Emergency Medical Technician Basic Lab book and made a face. "Why are you giving me this?" 

Audino grumbled a bit and poked the book, staring at him. 

"Oh yeah!" Kyle clued in, sitting up. "Damn I have a test in three days, I do need to study. Thanks, Auds." 

Audino let out a happy chirp and went to clear off Kyle's desk as he grabbed his backpack and tried to find the guide he was supposed to use to know what to study. Maybe he would get through medical school after all.

\----------

Kyle laid outside since it was nice out, a book spread out in front of him, a notebook at his side as he jotted down a few things. He had his Alolan Vulpix out since it wasn't sweltering and she sat on his back napping since he was basically sentient at that point. He looked up when he saw a shadow come over him and he saw that it was Scott Trevors and his girlfriend Regina. Both were in the same classes as Kyle for the most part and Scott was always boasting how his family was full of doctors.

"Look, babe. I told you. He has a bunch of girly Pokemon. No wonder he was such a girl about anatomy the other day." Scott sneered, which made Regina snicker. Both of them looked like they were right out of an early 90's high school teen drama and Kyle wasn't about to be intimidated by them. 

"I wasn't being a girl about anything, which, Regina, you shouldn't be braying about, because he just insulted you, it just went right over your head." Kyle pointed out with a smirk. "I was just making sure I knew what I was doing before I did it, you know, unlike what you did when you started that IV and Professor Kelex reamed you out for almost ripping that poor dude's vein open? Also she may be girly, but Vulpy could make you the next Neanderthal." 

Scott laughed again, which did actually sound like a braying jackass now that Kyle thought about it. "Listen, babe, he doesn't even pronounce neanderthal correctly. There's an h in there, idiot." 

"Actually, fuckwit, I did pronounce it correctly, which you'd know if you actually had some culture in your life and paid attention in history." Kyle snarked back at him. "I actually put in the effort instead of going around talking about how all of your family are doctors and you're a shoe in. Newsflash, dipshit, we've all seen you begging the profs to raise your grades, that your parents will kill you if you flunk out. I hope you've practiced how to say 'do you want fries with that?'" 

"Listen here, you little f..." Scott snarled, but before he could say anymore, Alolan Vulpix shot cold air at he and Regina, who shrieked loudly as the both of them ran off, Scott cursing loudly the entire time.

Kyle turned his head and smiled at the Pokemon. "Thanks, babe." He said, letting Vulpix nuzzle his chin and cheek a bit. 

\----------

Kyle walked into a patient's room with his resident and blushed a bit when Blissey walked over to the bed and started fussing at the patient. He fought the urge to smack himself in the face with his clipboard. "Bliss..." He mumbled, hoping this didn't count against him, or that he wouldn't get reamed out later. 

His resident, Dr. Cornell, laughed quietly. "Oh she's just doing what Blissey does." She said. "They're naturally nurturing, it's in their DNA. Do you want to help me with the exam, sweetheart?" 

Blissey let out a happy sound and hopped a bit. 

"Fantastic." She said. "Kyle keep a log of everything." 

"Yes, ma'am." Kyle said, wondering if this was him getting in trouble or not. 

\----------

"I got you something." Alex said, one day when he and Kyle were looking over all of the back logs his father kept to do with his shady dealings. Kyle was looking at the screen in front of him, not really paying much attention to anything and he looked over at Alex when he said that, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to think about why Kyle would get him anything and what it was, and he belatedly remembered his birthday was in two days. "I know it's early, I just didn't want to wait, and I didn't know if I'd see you." 

"I'm working so probably not. What is it?" Kyle asked.

"This." Alex held up a Pokeball. "I took your girly looking type into consideration." 

Kyle groaned. "I don't have a...nevevermind, whatever. What is it?" He took the Pokeball and stared at it, as if he could see through it to see the Pokemon inside.

"You could try letting it out and looking." Alex snarked.

Kyle ignored the tone and let the Pokemon out. He groaned quietly, but also laughed when he saw the Kirlia standing there. "Dude..."

"Hey, Kirlia are tough." Alex pointed out. "Who knows, maybe she'll be your bodyguard or something." 

"I don't need a bodyguard." Kyle insisted.

"Fine, she'll be one of the prettier sides of you and she'll charm patients while you do the clinical work." Alex said.

"I charm patients just fine." Kyle grumbled. 

Alex just smirked and turned back to his work, while Kyle felt a tug on his pants leg. He looked down and saw Kirlia looking up at him curiously. 

"Hello, yeah, I guess we're goin to be real great buds, huh?" Kyle bent and picked the Pokemon up. "I'm going to teach you to beat Alex up." 

"I have military grade Pokemon." Alex pointed out. 

"Yeah I've seen Boltund and Guerin playing tug of war with a rope toy. I'm so scared." Kyle quipped.

Alex stayed quiet at that, which just made Kyle look more smug. 

\----------

Kyle looked up as Michael came in and approached him as he was sitting on the couch in Alex's place and sat beside him. "Did you know you can get Pokemon off of Amazon?" 

"Is that what you did with my account?" Alex asked from the kitchen. 

"I didn't." Kyle said. "Is that even legal?"

Michael shrugged. "I mean some are used, so I figure it's sort of like adopting." 

"What'd you do?" Kyle asked.

Michael handed him a Pokeball. "I almost forgot your birthday so I made sure I didn't." 

Kyle eyed him. "It was two days ago, but I'll let you have this one since I was working." 

"Not my fault, dude." Michael said. "Are you going to see what it is?" 

Kyle, resigned to his fate, let the Pokemon out and blinked slowly when he saw it. It was a pink and purple color, looked sort of like a pig and was encased in some sort of pink fog. He leaned forward. "Is it asleep?" 

"Don't touch it!" Alex said, coming into the room as fast as he could. "Guerin!" 

"What?" Michael asked with far too casual a look. "It's pink and girly, I thought he'd like it." 

"That's a Musharna." Alex ran a hand over his face, seeing that Kyle already seemed fascinated with the Pokemon. "I...just do your research ok? And for God's sake don't touch the pink mist." 

"I won't." Kyle promised, although he looked tempted anyway. Alex figured if he did, he deserved it. 

\----------

Kyle got himself a Pokemon after the whole debacle of finding out an alien had been taking people over and causing havoc around the town. Of course getting a Squirtle probably wasn't the best choice in a protective Pokemon, but he had Kirlia to help out and he had to think of his job. He couldn't wander around with a Scyther or a Blastoise. It wasn't feasible. But he heard Squirtle were good fighters, despite their look and size, so he settled on that. 

Once he got her from the local Pokemon Center, he met Alex and Michael at the Crashdown, putting Squirtle in the booth and getting in beside her. 

Michael raised an eyebrow. "I don't remember you having a Squirtle." He looked at Alex. "Did he have a Squirtle?"

"Not that I recall." Alex shook his head, amused. 

"I just got her." Kyle said. "I thought she could help Kirlia." 

"She doesn't look all that tough." Michael eyed Squirtle. "What's up, Squirt?" He reached over and poked Squirtle on her bulbous forehead. 

"Squirtle!" She yelped indignantly and shot him with a blast of water

Alex guffawed into his napkin, ignoring the dirty look Liz was giving Kyle from behind the counter where she was. 

Kyle laughed as well, and smirked at Michael. "Dude, you deserved that." 

"And you deserve this." Liz said, coming over and thrusting a mop in his hand. "Keep your Pokemon under control." 

"Sorry, Liz, she's new." Kyle blushed.

"Don't blame the Pokemon." Liz said, sauntering off back to the counter, leaving Kyle sputtering after her.


End file.
